Friday the 13th

Well, there you go. November 13, 2009. After saying that I didn’t believe that 13 was an unlucky number and Friday the 13th was going to be a blessed day of great fortunes, it rained. Very hard. With raging wind and angry thunders. Of course I always loved bad weathers, so at first I was loving it, still thinking it would a lucky day.

That night, I got home quite late and pretty tired, but out of habit, I turned on my computer anyway. AND found out that the internet didn’t work. I tried everything. Restarting the wireless network, restarting the computer, disabling the wireless connection and re-enabling it after 15 minutes, nothing worked. That’s when I noticed that the modem was dead. The green and orange lights that usually danced and twinkled, signing joyous news of internet availability, were dead. Shit! What happened?

It didn’t take long for me to spot the problem. The modem’s adaptor was wet! Oh no! I looked up and there it was. A small part of the ceiling right above the adaptor was damp. It was leaking. Clearly, the rain had found a way to trickle happily on my modem’s adaptor. Nothing I could do at nearly midnight. I had to wait until the next morning to go to an electronic shop and buy a new adaptor. I was displeased, but I wasn’t in a total bad mood (yet). So I decided to watch TV instead, all the while hoping that it was just the adaptor that needed to be replaced. Hopefully, the modem itself was not affected, because replacing that would be expensive. Oh well, I’d worry about it tomorrow, I thought. Then I turned on the TV.

Blue screen.

NOW WHAT???

My daughter offered an explanation, “When I got home from school, the decoder smelled funny, Mom. Like it was burned.”

GREAT!

I tried to switch the TV in my bedroom with the TV in the living room, hoping that it was the TV that got burned, not the decoder. Wishful wish. It still didn’t work.

NOW I’M PISSED!

No internet. And no cable TV.

My only option would be to use an indoor antenna and settle for those crappy programs on local Indonesian TV channels. I wasn’t willing to do that, of course. I’d rather be without a TV than settling for craps.

So finally I just did the next best thing. Get drown out in alcohol. Thank goodness for the 2006 Californian merlot on my shelf.

The next day, it was official. The modem’s adaptor WAS murdered by water. But the modem itself, thankfully, was fine. I managed to find a cheap replacement at Poin Square and the modem instantly worked again. The green and orange lights immediately started dancing and twinkling again, sending joyous news of internet availability.

However, the Indovision satellite dish and decoder weren’t that lucky. They were killed by thunders. In fact, I found out that my next door neighbor’s Indovision was also slain to death yesterday by those thunders. And to fix that, I would need to call Indovision Customer Service. One of the worst Customer Services in the world. You would be put on hold for at least 30 minutes, get transferred to different departments, and when you finally obtain a confirmation that their technical staff would come by to fix the problem, they couldn’t tell you exactly when.

Indovision Customer Service would only give you a date, but not the time. So in other words, on that particular date, they would expect you to simply wait around the whole day, like you had nothing better to do, until their technical staff appeared at your door. If they appeared at all. Sometimes, they would call saying that they were stuck in traffic, or some lame excuses like that, and would need to reschedule. A great service from one of Indonesia’s leading cable TV providers, Indovision. NOT!

So my oldest daughter wisely reminded me that before calling them, I needed to be in a good mood. She knew me well enough that I was capable of starting the World War III with anyone or anything when I was in a bad mood. Good advice.

Right now it’s 17.58 on November 14, 2009. I haven’t called them yet. I’m still very grouchy and irritable. But at least the internet is working, so I can post this blog and release a bit of my temper on virtual paper.

What are the conclusions? There are four:

1. Don’t fuck around with Friday the 13th. It does have its own power. It can use it to grant you great fortunes or screw you. We have no choice but to believe it.

2. Make sure all of your electronic equipment are dry, especially during the rainy season. Check for possible leakage on the ceilings, cracks on the windows, etc.

3. Never call Indovision Customer Service (or any Customer Service in this country) when you’re in a bad mood.

4. God, if He exists, has a cruel sense of humor. As if it’s not enough that He’s been screwing my life so much in the past 10 years, He too must take away the two things that can cheer me up instantly – internet and cable TV. He must be laughing His fucking ass off right about now. Are You happy now, God? Glad I can make You happy.

PS: Dear Lady Rain and the God of Thunder, I like having both of you around, but when the two of you are fighting, stay away from me. Or better yet, just break up with each other. Thank you.

cassey & the internet

i don’t know what i’ve done right. actually, i don’t even know what i’ve done. the fact that both of my kids are still alive, healthy and well, still amazes me every second. as far as i can remember, i haven’t been the perfect mother. i’m cranky and moody. i get mad easily. i get crazy all the time. i still go out, hangout and stuff. i don’t like to cook (doesn't mean i can't cook, i just don't like it). i hate housework. i smoke, i drink, i rock ‘n roll. i love traveling, i love risky outdoor activities, so most of the time i leave them at home in order to pursue my hobbies and my dreams. in short, i’m sooo... not the ideal, warm, gentle, loving and caring mother everyone expects me to be. i haven’t done too many motherly things so far.

so when Cassey, my oldest daughter, told me that she won first prize on the Indonesian Youth Conference - Make Your Voice Heard! Blog Competition recently, i was proud and also shocked. i must’ve done something right.

yeah, i must’ve done something right, because both of my kids turn out to be smart young achievers. they have done well academically (most of the time) as well as socially. my youngest daughter, Sky, has consistently won various English speech and story-telling competitions. and now Cassey. i must’ve done something right. thank God.

her essay speaks about the “online culture” that she has embraced lovingly for the past… ow… 10 years or so. maybe that’s what i’ve done right. i introduced her to this thing called “the computer” since she was 2.5 years old. i installed a simple block-matching game for her. the reason for this was actually, again, quite selfish. she was a hyper-active kid and i wanted her to leave me the hell alone! little that i know, she got hooked on that computer and could stay on it for hours. and computers have always been the bestest of best friends for her. so naturally, when internet became financially accessible to our family, she was probably one of the first kids who mastered it, with all her heart and soul. long before any other kid in her school knew anything about it, Cassey was already on it. and when internet social networks became a trend - friendster, facebook, myspace, twitter, blogspot and so on - Cassey, of course, simply beats almost everyone at it. she’s completely a computer-freak and her culture IS the online culture. no wonder her essay won first place. she must’ve written it from her heart. it would be a piece of cake. so yeah, i guess that’s what i’ve done right. congratulations, Cass! i’m so proud of you!

well, you can read Cassey’s essay, which is now published on Jakarta Globe, by clicking here.

and, here is the announcement:

Pengumuman Pemenang Make Your Voice Heard! Blog Competition

Beberapa waktu yang lalu, IYC mengadakan kompetisi blog Make Your Voice Heard! - hasil kerjasama dengan Jakarta Globe dan Terrant Books - dengan tema Online all the time: Youth and the New Media. The impact of social networking and the online world on Indonesian culture.

Secara mengejutkan, IYC menerima kiriman karya yang relatif banyak dan menarik, walaupun kompetisi ini hanya dibuka selama kurang lebih dua minggu (dari tanggal 12 - 31 Agustus 2009). Hal ini sedikit banyak membuktikan bahwa anak muda Indonesia memiliki aspirasi dan sikap kritis, kendati harus menyampaikan ide-ide mereka di dalam Bahasa Inggris. Tim IYC memilih sepuluh karya terbaik ke editor Jakarta Globe–yang akan menentukan 3 juara kompetisi ini.

Akhirnya, telah diputuskan bahwa pemenang Make Your Voice Heard! Blog Competition adalah:

1. Cassandra Niki Sucahyo (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta)

Online all the time: Youth and The New Media. The impact of social networking and the online world on Indonesian culture

2. Garindra Putra Prahandono (De Anza College, California)

Social Networking on Youth

3. Disty Winata (Burnaby Central Secondary, Vancouver)

The Impacts of the Online World to Indonesian Culture

Tulisan pemenang pertama akan dipublikasikan di Jakarta Globe. Masing-masing pemenang mendapatkan voucher berlangganan Jakarta Globe dan goodie bags dari Terrant Books.

Selamat untuk para pemenang!

Terima kasih untuk semua yang telah mengirimkan karyanya, dan secara tidak langsung membuktikan bahwa suara kita layak untuk didengar.